Swift - Best way to run timer in background for iphone apps

Question

I'm totally new to iOS development and am working on an iPhone cooking app that gives the user the choice of three 'timer' options. The first timer runs for 6 mins, the second for 8.5 mins and the last for 11 mins.

Once the timer finishes counting down it plays an audio file and displays a message within the app screen. Everything works perfectly, except that I've discovered in testing that the timer stops running while the user goes to another app (e.g. checking email, using Safari, etc). Obviously, this defeats the purpose of the app as the user needs to know when the timer is finished so they can do the next step (e.g. remove a saucepan from the stove).

I've researched background modes and am getting confused. It seems that I literally have no reason (according to Apple) to run this app in the background (i.e. it's not playing music, using locations services, etc). I also keep reading that there's a 10 min limit to running in the background otherwise.

I also come across the idea of local and remote notifications, but the page I was referred to no longer exists on Apple's developer site. I'm now at a loss and confused.

Is there a way for me to actually get this app to work in the background for up to 11 minutes? If so, how?

---

Here's an update. I've been trying to get my head around Local Notifications and Background Tasks.

LOCAL NOTIFICATIONS This showed some promise, but I'm not sure how I would implement this in my scenario? How would I ensure the right amount of time passes before the notification appears/plays a sound?

For example, the user selects the button for 'soft boiled eggs' at exactly 12:00:00pm and the app starts a counter for 6 mins. At 12:01:20pm the user reads an email, taking 30 seconds before putting the phone down at 12:01:50 to read the paper. Let's assume at 12:02:50 the phone goes into lock mode, how do I ensure the local notification triggers 3mins and 10secs later to make up the whole 6mins and play the sound file notifying the user their eggs are ready.

BACKGROUND TASKS This may work for my scenario if I can start and restart background tasks to allow my timer to complete before playing the sound.

Below is a snippet of my code (relating to the eggs example above) that I hope will help put my app in context:

@IBAction internal func ButtonSoft(sender: UIButton) {

    counter = 360
    TimerDisplay.text = String("06:00")

    timer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(1, target: self, selector: Selector("updateCounter"), userInfo: "Eggs done!!", repeats: true)


    ButtonSoft.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonMedium.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonHard.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonSoft.enabled = false
    ButtonMedium.enabled = false
    ButtonHard.enabled = false


}




@IBAction internal func ButtonMedium(sender: UIButton) {

    counter = 510
    TimerDisplay.text = String("08:30")

    timer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(1, target: self, selector: Selector("updateCounter"), userInfo: "Eggs done!!", repeats: true)


    ButtonSoft.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonMedium.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonHard.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonSoft.enabled = false
    ButtonMedium.enabled = false
    ButtonHard.enabled = false


}

@IBAction internal func ButtonHard(sender: UIButton) {

    counter = 660
    TimerDisplay.text = String("11:00")

    timer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(1, target: self, selector: Selector("updateCounter"), userInfo: "Eggs done!!", repeats: true)


    ButtonSoft.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonMedium.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonHard.alpha = 0.5
    ButtonSoft.enabled = false
    ButtonMedium.enabled = false
    ButtonHard.enabled = false


}


func stopTimer() {

    if counter == 0 {
        timer.invalidate()

    }
}


func updateCounter() {
    counter--


    let seconds = counter % 60
    let minutes = (counter / 60) % 60
    let strMinutes = minutes > 9 ? String(minutes) : "0" + String(minutes)
    let strSeconds = seconds > 9 ? String(seconds) : "0" + String(seconds)
    if seconds > 0 {
        TimerDisplay.text = "\(strMinutes):\(strSeconds)"
    }

    else {
        stopTimer()
        TimerDisplay.text = String("Eggs done!!")
        SoundPlayer.play()
    }

}

@IBAction func ButtonReset(sender: AnyObject) {
    timer.invalidate()
    stopTimer()
    TimerDisplay.text = String("Choose your eggs:")

    ButtonSoft.alpha = 1.0
    ButtonMedium.alpha = 1.0
    ButtonHard.alpha = 1.0
    ButtonSoft.enabled = true
    ButtonMedium.enabled = true
    ButtonHard.enabled = true

}

In terms of running background tasks, I've come across the following example of code.

To create the background task:

func someBackgroundTask(timer:NSTimer) {
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_BACKGROUND, 0), { () -> Void in
        println("do some background task")

        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), { () -> Void in
            println("update some UI")

        })
    })
}

And the below line of code to (I think) use a timer to run the above function:

var timer = NSTimer(timeInterval: 1.0, target: self, selector: "someBackgroundTask:", userInfo: nil, repeats: true)

And the below code to stop it all:

timer.invalidate()

So, how would I adapt this for my scenario? If this isn't possible, how would I use local notifications in my app?

Or do I just give up on the iPhone version of this app (my Apple Watch version seems to work fine).

Answer 1

In a word, no. You can ask for background time, but recent versions of iOS give you 3 minutes.

If you are a background sound playing app or navigation app you are allowed to run in the background for longer, but you have to ask for those permissions and the app review board will check.

The bottom line is that third parties can't really do a timer app that counts down an arbitrary time longer than 3 minutes.

You might want to use timed local notifications. You can make those play a sound when they go off. Search in the Xcode docs on UILocalNotification.